Wildfires raging out of control across Spain have killed two people and forced
thousands more to flee their homes in the worst blazes experienced in a
decade.

Nearly a thousand residents were forced to leave the Canary Island of La Gomera overnight, crowding on to ferries to escape the flames.

Authorities are still struggling to bring a smaller blaze on the neighbouring holiday island of Tenerife under control and on the mainland two firefighters were killed tackling a wildfire in Torremanzanas, a village inland from the eastern coastal city of Alicante.

Spain’s emergency services are stretched as they battle to extinguish at least 10 separate forest fires burning across the country.

In the Alicante region alone, eight helicopters and six water dropping planes were called in to assist firefighters on the ground to douse the Torremanzanas blaze. Aircraft are also being used on La Gomera, where fires are advancing on three fronts.

Two boats took 910 people from Valle Gran Rey to La Gomera’s main town, San Sebastian. In all, more than 5,000 have been helped to safety since Friday.

The fires, thought to be started deliberately, first broke out on the island more than a week ago and have so far destroyed about 9,900 acres of land, including a significant part of the Garajonay National Park, a Unesco-listed reserve that is home to rare subtropical forests.

Spain is at particularly high risk of fires this summer after suffering its driest winter in 70 years. The mercury reached 40 degrees Celsius in recent days, but eased around most of the country on Sunday.

Last month four people were killed by a wildfire in the northern Catalonia region.

The Spanish government said 132,300 hectares of land had been burnt this year up to August 5, the worst devastation in more than a decade.

Several blazes have broken out across the country in recent days, including one that burned part of the Cabaneros natural park, a reserve for animals and rare flowers in central Spain.